Lacey is a supermom. She won't tell you that, but she is. Knowing she wanted to be a mother, and realizing at 25 that she might not be on a traditional route to motherhood, Lacey decided to explore foster parenting. After completing the training, Lacey received a call at four in the morning that changed her life. She is now the mother of six girls who are all biological sisters. We talk in this episode all about becoming a foster parent and an adoptive parent, mustering the courage to have empat...
Mar 13, 2018•39 min
Kaitlin is raising her son Oliver and navigating a co-parenting relationship with her ex-wife. Kaitlin admits that although after five years of marriage she thought that they both wanted to have a baby, however in hindsight feels as though her ex-wife wasn't fully prepared to make such a major life change. Now the two navigate a co-parenting relationship together and try to make Oliver the main focus of their decisions.
Mar 06, 2018•22 min
Ingrid and her partner have one son and live in Canada. Ingrid admits that she never really thought she wanted to be a mother, but when the feeling hit she couldn't think of anything else. Their journey to parenthood is its own great story and makes the bonds of a family even more special. Giving birth in Canada, Ingrid says that through their publicly funded healthcare system, they never see a medical bill. Not even when their newborn son had a health scare, the cost of the NICU and treatment w...
Feb 27, 2018•32 min
Melissa and her husband have always had a love of the outdoors. As avid climbers, hikers, bikers, skiers, and campers, they are now raising a daughter to love these activities as much as they do. Even though Melissa admits they can't be as extreme as they were before children, they are giving their daughter every opportunity to cultivate her own love of nature and activity and that gives them the opportunity to enjoy what they love as a family.
Feb 20, 2018•37 min
Fern is the mother two boys, one of whom has autism. Fern admits that because her son didn't fit into a typical autism mold - he made eye contact, loved to cuddle - she didn't believe that he could be autistic. However, as months passed and doctors, friends, and family asked more questions, Fern had a long conversation with herself and realized that she needed to face any diagnosis head on and without anymore denial. She said that was the moment that the fear went away and they began to seek tre...
Feb 13, 2018•31 min
Veronica is the mother of two sons and has been sober from alcohol and drugs for over 17 years. As a licensed therapist and recovery coach, Veronica has spent most of her adult life working with others to maintain their sobriety. Veronica has written two popular books on the subject - Why You Drink And How To Stop: Journey To Freedom and Get Sober For Free: Your Practical Guide. She also conducts lectures and workshops on alcoholism, addiction, and spirituality. We talk all about parenting in so...
Feb 06, 2018•30 min
Melissa and her husband have one son, Miles, and have decided that they are a one-child family. What makes her choice to have one child interesting is that Melissa is one of six sisters - born eight and a half years apart. Melissa and her sisters have always had a unique bond - and even though they live all over the country, they have stayed the best of friends. Tragically, their mother passed away when they were teenagers, and as they have become parents they have tried to keep her memory alive...
Jan 30, 2018•17 min
Katie and her husband are raising two children, and have spent their careers are professional classical working musicians. Meeting in college, they both knew that they would be moving and traveling as part of their work. Now that they are raising children, she feels fortunate to surround the kids with classical music and talented musicians but knows that it also means long hours traveling to gigs and lots of hotels. Fortunately, her kids love staying in hotels. We talk all about the pros and con...
Jan 16, 2018•32 min
Mia is an employee of her communities school system and the mother of a six-year-old daughter. Mia has spent her career working with schools and seeing what they can offer children - but when it was time to enroll her own daughter, she admits the process was daunting. Her daughter was academically ahead during preschool, and although she has a late birthday, tested up to kindergarten when she was only four years old. Mia admits that a lot of thought and conversation with her husband and other me...
Jan 09, 2018•25 min
Jan is the ultimate "Mother of Boys" - she raised six of them. With six boys spread ten years apart, she says life was as full of joy as it was rambunctious. Now a grandmother, she says she is proud of the men they have become and of the friendships and bond they share between them. She offers her advice for raising independent men and living in a large family.
Jan 02, 2018•30 min
Catherine and her husband are currently raising their one-year-old son Jack. Catherine is American and her husband is British, and the couple has lived on "both sides of the pond." After agreeing through most of their relationship that they did not want children, a pregnancy scare forced Catherine to rethink her decision. After a lot of thought and discussion, they decided to get pregnant. However, for most of her pregnancy Catherines husband was still apprehensive. It wasn't until the birth of ...
Dec 12, 2017•23 min
Leah is a mother of two boys living on a farm in West Virginia. She and her husband are "theater people" and have had to carve out professions piecing together jobs in their rural community. They spend their days hiking and being boys, but she has always been aware of the need to have her children understand and express their emotions. We talk about life a mother of all boys, resources for unlimited amounts of energy and raising empathetic boys in a hypermasculine world.
Dec 05, 2017•30 min
Mark is the other half of the parenting/business/success team of our last guest, Kendall. When Kendall brought Mark the idea of moving back to his rural hometown, it took a minute to believe she was serious. He had a full-time job in the city, they had friends and social obligations, but he had always longed for his daughters to have a connection to his hometown the way he did. There was one small catch - Mark needed to convince his job that it was feasible. He did, and he spent the first six mo...
Nov 28, 2017•36 min
Kendall is the mother of two girls, and is one of the bravest boss women I know. Before becoming a mother, Kendall decided that instead of working for a company, she wanted to start her own graphic design business. So she took business classes, got mentors, networked, and taught herself how to become an entrepreneur. Ten years later, she and her husband run an incredibly successful graphic design company. Kendall admits that after the birth of her second daughter, she had a lot of mommy guilt ab...
Nov 14, 2017•39 min
April and her husband have two children, ages 11 and 8, and they are a military family. April spends much of the year away from her husband while he is off with the special forces, and she navigates her way through parenting solo. Even though they talk nearly every day, the family still faces parenting challenges when he does come home, and they work through each challenge as it comes. April has not put her dreams on the shelf, however, and she is currently working on her doctorate and teaches a...
Nov 07, 2017•33 min
Alex is the mother of two children and a step-mother of three children. Alex and her husband met while serving their country in Iraq, and with both parents being in active military service the family is always thinking about what they will do if both parents are called up to duty. Alex came into the relationship knowing about her husband's children but admits to naively believing that they would all get along well. It has been a hard journey for the entire family. Alex also reveals another shock...
Oct 31, 2017•23 min
Amanda is a single mother to two pre-teen girls, and the journey through divorce and co-parenting have not been easy. During the separation and divorce, Amanda had to work through lawyers and even spoke only through email as the communication of last resort. Things have gotten easier for her, but only because of her willingness to put her children before her own needs and feelings, and is hoping that she can teach her daughters to make good choices as they blossom into adulthood.
Oct 24, 2017•25 min
Alyse is a mother with a lot on her plate. With four children under the age of six, Alyse and her husband spent the first part of their marriage as a military family. She knew when her first child was six months old that something was not "normal" and spent five years working with a host of doctors and specialists to finally get a proper diagnosis. Alyse and her husband are also dealing with an issue that many families in America are dealing with and that many try to hide - addiction. After her ...
Oct 17, 2017•44 min
Aki is the mother of a twelve-year-old daughter and is also a life coach for parents. Aki got into this particular line of work after having her own daughter and quickly realizing that she didn't have all the answers. She works with parents to help them find confidence and connection so that they can enjoy their families. She admits, however, that being human means makes some mistakes, and feels that every child should see that as part of a healthy parenting dynamic. You can find Aki at www.pare...
Oct 10, 2017•33 min
James and his wife Stacy are the parents of one-year-old Ozzy, and are about ready to give birth to another child any day. James is true punk rock - eight-inch purple mohawk, ear stretchers, he has played in a band, and his career is working at a high-end guitar factory. We talk all about peoples perceptions of him - with and without his daughter - and how people go from scared to infatuated when he's out playing with his kid. We also talk about work/life balance, and what it's like to be on the...
Oct 03, 2017•23 min
Staci and her husband have a beautiful rambunctious daughter and are preparing to welcome their second child in the next few weeks. When we recorded the interview, the couple hadn't told anyone but family that they were expecting their second child, and we talked about the craziness that is the second pregnancy. Staci and her husband decided when they were engaged that they were atheists, and are raising their daughter as both an atheist and as a feminist. We talk about letting children - especi...
Sep 26, 2017•22 min
Today's episode features our very first couple - Pat and Cristina! The couple are parenting two beautiful daughters, live on the West Coast, and try to foster a love of the outdoors in both girls. Pat is from the east coast and Cristina is from the west coast - and after living in coastal California and New York City, the two decided to settle on the west coast to be close to her family. That means, however, that they have to make the time to see his family as much as possible. We talk all about...
Sep 19, 2017•28 min
Laura is the mother of one beautiful toddler and her story is not unlike many of ours. Laura and her husband were not even sure for many years that they wanted children, so when they decided to get pregnant they knew early on that they would only have one child. What they did not bargain for was a difficult labor and delivery that took many hours and various tools that most expecting mothers do not think will be used. Laura also tried very early on to breastfeed, however, when it wasn't working ...
Sep 12, 2017•19 min
Brandi is the mother of a beautiful toddler, Asher, and has always been very frank and open about her struggles with motherhood. After thinking that she did not want to breastfeed, Brandi decided during her pregnancy that she would try it and it all started perfectly. However, after her son developed a bout of colic, Brandi started to feel like a slave to the breast. We also talk about the worry of a possible speech delay, and when it is the right time to look for therapy and help when children ...
Sep 05, 2017•31 min
Jen is a mother to six children and a Women's Happiness Expert. After earning a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies in 2003, spent time as a stay-at-home mom. However, after trying to be the perfect mother, wife, and bread baker, Jen took a good look at her life and decided she was going to work every day at being happy. So that's just what she did. Along her journey, she decided that working with other women to get them to find their own happiness was another source of joy for her, an...
Aug 29, 2017•26 min
Dana is the mother of two boys from a previous marriage and is now the step-mother to two more sons with her husband. Dana and her husband knew when they began their relationship that they needed to make sure everyone was comfortable as they progressed, and they understood that they needed to be on the same page about parenting before making it official. In this episode, Dana talks openly and candidly about the joys and challenges blending a family, what it's like living in a home with four adol...
Aug 22, 2017•22 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Chaz is the mother of a very precocious four-year-old, and a labor and delivery nurse. She has witnessed so many of us become parents, and she says it is the greatest job in the world. As the mother of a child, she knows how hard the transition is from regular old human to parent, and she tells her new parents that this huge life change takes more time to fully accept. We talk all about her job, the highs and lows of being in the room when life comes roaring out, and what she wants parents to kn...
Aug 15, 2017•23 min
Becky is the mother of two children. She is in the unique position of having a child with autism while also being a special education teacher. Becky talks about what it is like trying to understand her son's autism and being able to see both perspectives as a teacher and as a parent. We also talk about finding the right school to help him learn, and what that meant for her preconceived notions about discipline and therapies. Becky is also a "direct sales" mom, and she let me pick her brain about...
Aug 08, 2017•37 min
Bobbie is the mother of two children. Bobbie was raised in a rural area, and the prevailing thought in her family was that women should marry and not continue an education. However, her mother always wanted Bobbie to further her education and be able to provide for herself; something her mother was not allowed to do. Bobbie was able to complete her undergraduate and masters degrees and now works as a teacher. She was able to use her mothers guidance and advice when she decided to walk away from ...
Aug 01, 2017•25 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Megan is the mother of four children, including twins. Megan is also a widow. Her husband Dennis died in 2014. Megan has been navigating her way through her pain by taking strength from her children, going to therapy, and a strong support system. We talk about what her early days were like, how she has moved forward raising her children, and what being a widow means to her.
Jul 25, 2017•29 min•Season 1Ep. 33
